OAKLAND, Calif. — The Rockies’ scintillating streak of 20 victories in 23 games has been defined by excellent starting pitching, power hitting and crisp defense.

As well as the blessed absence of the Los Angeles Dodgers on their docket.

That changes tonight when the Rockies open a three-game series at Dodger Stadium against the team with the best record (48-28) in baseball. L.A. is 8-1 against the Rockies this season, outscoring them 74-43. The Clint Hurdle era ended, and the Jim Tracy era began, after the Dodgers swept three games from the Rockies at Coors Field in late May.

“We are going against an opponent that is the bully on the block,” Rockies pitching coach Bob Apodaca said. “They have bloodied our noses, and we haven’t thrown a punch back.”

The Dodgers lead the Rockies by 7 1/2 games in the National League West. The second-place, wild card-leading Giants trail the Dodgers by seven games.

A month ago, the Rockies weren’t even in the same galaxy as L.A. Now they have a chance to make the Dodgers start looking over their shoulder a bit.

“We have actually been playing decent on the road,” shortstop Troy Tulowitzki said Sunday after the Rockies completed a three-game sweep of the Oakland A’s. “I think that good teams find a way to get it done on the road, and we did that in this series.”

The Dodgers will still be without Manny Ramirez. The slugger is finishing up his minor-league rehab assignment following his 50-game drug suspension.

During their hot streak, the Rockies have swept St. Louis and Milwaukee on the road and taken two of three from an excellent Tampa Bay team at Coors Field. In Tracy’s mind, the Rockies have proved their legitimacy and moved past “measuring sticks.”

“What we need to do is not get overamped and just continue to play good baseball,” said Tracy, who has led the Rockies to a 22-7 record since taking over for Hurdle. “It’s a three- game series against the Dodgers, and we are going to play them as hard and as tough as we have played the previous 29 games.”

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